


Confusion

by Darth_Darling



Series: Neurodivergent Promnis [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Confusion, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, MT Prompto Argentum, Self-Harm, Status Effect, Suicide Attempt, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-05-31 08:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15115502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darth_Darling/pseuds/Darth_Darling
Summary: During what should have been a simple hunt gone wrong, Prompto gets hit with confusion and accidentally shoots Ignis. Gladio chews him out afterwards, not realizing that it had been due to a status effect. Meanwhile Prompto draws his own conclusion on why it must have happened.Now a two-shot!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based off this post https://izuumii.tumblr.com/post/166411351436/sometimes-life-is-hard from tumblr. Sad Prompto is sad, TW!

It should have been an easy hunt, go out, kill some wasps, and bring back proof of the kill. Easy peasy, right? Or at least that’s how Prompto thought it was going to be. They had stocked up on antidotes before going, knowing that they were more than likely encounter some kind of poison while trying to fight them, bug types were especially nasty to deal with due to that. Prompto shuddered. He _really_ hated bugs.

“Okay, there they are,” Ignis pointed as the four crept along, slowly reaching the hunt location. Prompto’s eyes widened as soon as he saw them.

“Ugh,” Gladio scoffed. “They’re bigger than I thought they would be.”

“Right?” Prompto joined in. Noctis hummed in agreement.

“Yeah, but that makes them easier to hit then, right?” he mused. “What do you think Specs, should fire work on them?”

“Given that they are insects, its likely that it should be a weakness,” Ignis agreed. “All right then, are we ready? Do we all have an antidote?”

They all nodded in agreement, and Prompto patted Noctis on the back.

“All right, let’s do this,” Noctis grinned. He threw his fire spell out and the four leaped out of their hiding spot to charge.

And that’s when the battle went to shit.

Turns out those flying bastards were not weak to fire, all using the spell did was make the battleground hazardous for all of them. Noctis kept warp striking to hit the wasps down lower, so that Ignis and Gladio could swat at them from the ground. Prompto stepped back and carefully aimed at them.  He managed to snipe one out of the sky.

“I got one!” Prompto cheered. “Only five left!”

“Good job, keep it up!” Ignis called back. Prompto couldn’t help but blush. Ignis’ praise meant everything to him. To know his boyfriend-

“Blondie! Watch out!” Gladio called, snapping him out of his thoughts. Prompto then heard the buzzing of one of the wasps near him, and something sprayed in his face. He reached out to try and shoot the insect, but his arms felt heavy and the scenery around him swirled. Was this poison? He grabbed the antidote from his pocket and crushed it, but nothing changed.

“Shit,” he swore. He stilled himself, ground his feet, and he raised his gun to aim. All the targets were starting to blur. And then something just fell out of the sky.

“Noct!” he heard someone yell, but the voices were distorted. Something else then flew through the air, ah!, a target! Prompto raised his gun, aimed at the blur, and fired.

“Augh!” he again heard someone cry out, someone that was human.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

“I… What happened?” Prompto called out, trying to walk forward. He wobbled at first, but then began to regain composure as the world slowly returned to normal. He ran over to Gladio, the only one left standing, who had Noctis slung over his shoulder. On the ground was Ignis, who was bleeding out of shoulder and out cold. “Gladio! What happened!? Did I-“

“What the fuck do you think happened?” Gladio sneered. “You’re the one that shot him!” Prompto felt his blood run cold.

“What do you-“

“Shut the fuck up and grab him,” Gladio growled. “We don’t have time for your bullshit. We need to get these two to the haven ASAP.” Prompto nodded. He rummaged in Ignis’ pocket, pulling out a potion he knew he had stashed away, he put into in his grip, and squeezed his hand. The potion broke and swirled around Ignis’ unconscious body, the potion helping to clot the bleeding. With that he picked Ignis up, throwing his arm around his shoulder, and wrapping his arm around his waist and began to haul him as much as he could.

Thankfully the was haven they last used as a base was nearby, only a 15-minute walk from the hunt. Ignis didn’t regain consciousness during that time, but Noctis began to stir in Gladio’s hold. Gladio put Noctis into the tent first, and then ran back out to Prompto to take Ignis from him. He didn’t say anything to him, but he didn’t need to, the cold look of disdain in his eyes said everything for him. Prompto swallowed thickly.

Something, he had to something!

He went over to the Regalia-D and popped the trunk, and after a moment of searching, pulled out the mega potion hidden in there, and another regular one, for Noctis. Satisfied he closed the trunk and ran back to the tent.

“Here!” Prompto started, getting Gladio’s attention. He handed the to potions to him. “For Noct and Iggy.”

“Thanks,” he grumbled. Prompto could see now that Noctis had a large bruise and cut on the side of his head. Was that him that fell? Did he fall out of the sky warping? Gladio had already taken Ignis’ shirt off and had a first aid kit open. The wound looked like a clean shot, so he shouldn’t have any shrapnel, but the heavy bleeding obvious muscle damage was still a major issue. Gladio used the mega potion on him first, and as he body closed, the wound began to move, slowly healing itself. Noctis was next, who twitched and rolled over after having the potion used on him.

“They’ll be okay, right?” Prompto asked softly. “Thankfully we-“

“Shut the fuck up!” Gladio barked back. Getting up and turning to Prompto. He reached out and shoved Prompto backwards out of the tent. Prompto stumbled as he tried to regain his footing and bit his tongue inside his mouth to keep from making a noise. “What the fuck was that back there? I knew you coming was a mistake, but I never thought you could be so incompetent to shoot one of your own like that!”

“I-“

“I said can it!” Gladio sneered. “I knew you were nothing but a liability, and it looks like I was right.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Prompto cried out, tears stinging in his eyes. “I thought it was one of the wasps!”

“Are you fucking blind!?” Gladio asked cruelly. “How could you not tell the difference? I didn’t realize you thought of your boyfriend to be like a giant, flying monster, but maybe he finds that flattering, I wouldn’t know.”

“I don’t know what happened,” Prompto tried to explain. “I-“

“I don’t want to hear it!” Gladio cut him off. “You’ve done enough. There’s useless, and then there’s _you_. Just do everyone a favor and get lost, got it?” Prompto nodded.

“Tell him I said sorry,” Prompto softly answered, before turning away from him. Gladio grunted in response and went back into the tent.

He never should have come. He was just a big, stupid liability. He really should leave. Ignis probably hated him, and he was too dangerous now to be of use to Noctis. What if happened again? What if he shot Noctis the next time? What if it was a fatal shot? Then again that depended on Prompto not fucking up and actually using his gun properly.

He got to the trunk and opened it up, grabbing his bag of stuff and slinging it over his shoulder. He lifted his camera up, but hesitated. It was a gift from Ignis, but he didn’t deserve it anymore. With a whimper he put it back down. He moved onto Ignis’ stuff next. He took a simple 100 gil bill and put it in his pocket. He only needed just enough money for him to stay the night at the caravan at the HQ and grab a meal while he figured out his next step. He found Ignis’ journal and pen next, and after a moment staring at it, he opened it up, wrote a message down on a blank page, and left the pen there, so hopefully he’ll find it later. He placed the journal next to his camera and closed the trunk.

He turned and gave the haven one last look before turning away and running off in the direction of the Meldacio Hunter Headquarters.

After an hour and a half of walking on foot, he finally got back to the base. No one seemed to pay him any mind that he was by himself. Maybe no one remembered him unless he was with Noctis. His stomach grumbled loudly and decided to go to Kenny’s first to get something to eat.

The diner was way too nostalgic for its own good, and Prompto couldn’t help but to feel a pang of loneliness, remembering the times the four of them could come to a Kenny’s for a cheap, greasy meal. Ignis always complained, but deep down, he knew that he secretly enjoyed the food.

“What can I get for you?” The tipster asked kindly. When Prompto looked up he made a face. “Hey, weren’t you here earlier? How did those wasps treat you?”

“Oh yeah, I was, huh?” Prompto forced a grin. “They were tougher than I thought. My frien- I mean, the people I was with will probably come by later to get the bounty.” The man frowned thoughtfully.

“Is everything okay?” He asked. “Why aren’t you with your friends now?”

“I-“ Prompto choked. He grabbed his wrist under the table, squeezing hard. “I don’t want to talk about it. Can I have an order of fries and water please?”

“Of course, my apologizes,” the man nodded before turning away to give the order to the chef. He came back a moment later with his water but didn’t say anything.

Prompto couldn’t help but the start scratching his wrist from over his wrist band. He began to wonder, was the shot a mistake, or was it because of him. Prompto knew since he was a teenager what he really was, when Cor told him after he became friends with Noctis. If he was an MT, was he acting upon orders he didn’t know he had. What if the shot had been on purpose, and he really was trying to kill Ignis without realizing it.

If that was the case, he really was too dangerous to be around anyone.

When he got his order he shoveled down the fries quickly, paid for the meal, and left quickly. He knew what needed to be done. He walked down the road of the headquarters, and entered the supply shop, picking up only three items; a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and a knife.

 

* * *

 

An hour after he had yelled at Prompto, Gladio left the tent to see what he was up to, only to find that he was nowhere in sight. A pang of guilt shot through him. He knew he shouldn’t have yelled at him like that, but he had just been so fucking angry! After Noctis knocked himself out falling out of his warp and then Ignis being shot… he just lost it. He went back into the tent, his heart heavy.

That said he still didn’t know what the fuck Prompto was doing. How stupid was he to blantaly shoot Ignis like that, his own boyfriend? Prompto should be better trained than that, but maybe they were wrong about him.

“Nnngh…” Noctis groaned as he began to wake up. He stirred before sitting up and finally opening his eyes. “Ugh, what happened? Did we get the wasps?”

“No, we didn’t,” Gladio sighed. He got down on all fours and crawled next to Noctis, taking him into his arms. “How are you feeling? You hit your head pretty hard.”

“Is that what happened?” Noctis asked, nuzzling into Gladio’s hold. “Its fine, I guess. Those wasps fucking sucked. They sprayed me in the face with something and I couldn’t control myself anymore.” Gladio sucked in a breath.

“What do you mean?” He asked nervously. Noctis shrugged.

“I mean when I tired to move one way, my body went in another direction. I was still able to track them, but when I warped, I didn’t go to the right place. Was that how I hurt myself?”

“Yeah, actually,” Gladio nodded. “You warped up into the sky and fell and hit your head on the ground. It scared the shit out of me.” He kissed him on the temple, where his injury was. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Before Noctis could responded, Ignis began to stir too. He let off a soft groan and the snapped up straight.

“Ah!” He cried out with a start. “Gladio! Noctis! What happened, where are we?” He groaned and placed a hand over his shoulder, where the wound was.

“Hey, take it easy,” Gladio eased, letting go of Noctis to move over to him. “We’re back at the haven. We had some issues with the wasps, so we retreated after you and Noctis went down for the count. “How is your shoulder?”

“It’s a little sore, but fine,” Ignis answered. “What happened? I think… Did I get shot? Were we ambushed by MTs?”

“Not exactly,” Gladio grumbled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Ignis narrowed his eyes at him.

“What happened?” He asked sternly, he looked around the tent. “And where is Prompto? Is he okay?”

“Yeah, where is Prompto?” Noctis asked. “Did he get hurt too?”

“Okay, guys, just let me explain,” Gladio huffed. “Its not going to sound good, but-“

“What did you do?” Ignis growled dangerously.

“We weren’t attacked by MTs, the person that shot you was Prompto,” Gladio growled back. “I told you he wasn’t ready, and this is what happened.”

“He couldn’t have done it on purpose!” Ignis snapped. “You know he wouldn’t!”

“I know he has the least training out of all of us,” Gladio snapped back. “He-“

“Wait, what if he got sprayed with he same stuff as me?” Noctis asked. Ignis’ eyebrows shot up.

“What do you mean? Were you poisoned?” Ignis asked. Noctis shook his head.

“No, I got sprayed in the face by one of the wasps and I lost control of myself, that’s why I warped and fell,” Noctis explained. Ignis hummed thoughtfully.

“This is all my fault,” he mused. “It seems I was wrong about our prey. They weren’t poisonous at all, they use confusion instead.”

“Confusion?” Gladio asked. “That’s a new one.”

“For us perhaps,” Ignis agreed. “But I’ve read about it before. Its not an as common tactic among creatures, but some do have the ability to temporarily scramble motor controls and confuse the senses. It sounds like both Prompto and Noctis were hit by this.”

“Ah shit,” Gladio swore. “I’m a fucking idiot then.”

“Yes, you are,” Ignis agreed, his eyes focusing in him dangerously. “So I’ll ask again Gladiolus, what the fuck did you do to my boyfriend?”

“Iggy!” Gladio defended. “I didn’t know! I thought that…. That doesn’t matter, I was wrong.” He sighed. “After we got back to camp. I yelled at him, and… I told him to leave.”

“You what!” Noctis gasped. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I know!” Gladio yelled. “I shouldn’t have, but I was mad, and I was scared. You were both hurt, with one of you down due to him. I just blew up.” Ignis glowered at him and began to get up.

“Iggy you shouldn’t get up, you need to rest,” Gladio eased.

“Yeah Specs,” Noctis agreed. “He’ll come back.”

“No, he won’t,” Ignis disagreed. “I know him well enough to know he’s more than likely wrapped up in his own head too much for it to be healthy. We need to find him, _now_.” The other two nodded silently and they quickly exited the tent. “I’ll go get a new shirt and check the trunk to see if his stuff is still there, you two get ready to leave. He’s more than likely returned to the Hunters HQ, if we hurry we might be able to see if he’s still there.”

“Got it!” Gladio answered quickly.

“I’ll drive,” Noctis stated. “You’re too worried, it’ll be safer if I do it, okay?”

“I-, You may be right, okay,” Ignis nodded. He headed to the edge of the haven and dropped down, running over to the truck. A quick glance after opening showed that the items have been rummaged through, and Prompto’s bag was gone. However, he left his camera. Ignis frowned to himself. That wasn’t a good sign. He grabbed a fresh shirt from his back and pulled it on, not bothering to button it up or tuck it in. He then turned his attention back to the camera. He was about to pick it up when he realized that his journal was also next to it, his pen holding the book open to a spot. His frown deepened as he picked the journal up.

“Okay, Specs, let’s get out of here,” Noctis told him, grabbing his arm and tugging him away from the trunk. He nodded silently and got into the back. Gladio was already seated in the front, staring quietly out into nothing. Ignis thought to berate him but held his tongue. There were more important matters at hand. Noctis started up the Regalia and began to pull way from the haven, once he was sure Noctis knew where he was going he opened up the journal and began to read the note.

_I’m so sorry Ignis. I don’t know what happened, but I hurt you, and I’ll never forgive myself._

_Gladio yelled at me, and he’ll probably tell you that, but he’s right. I always knew I wasn’t good enough to come along, and I was right. I shot you! I still can’t believe I… I’m an idiot. It doesn’t matter what I thought, all that matters is that you were hurt, and I’ve been revealed as a liability._

_You probably hate me now, and I hate me too for hurting you. Its best if I leave. I left the camera behind, I don’t deserve to have it anymore. I know money is a little tight, so you guys can sell it if you want for some extra cash, just be sure to take the SD card out. I’ve got a lot of shots of the three of you in there. Those photos were always meant for you guys. Just delete the ones of me and it’ll be like I was never there._

_I love you so much. Its better this way. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but that doesn’t matter to you guys. I’ll figure something out. Take care of Prince Noctis for me._

_Prompto_

His hands were shaking as he finished the letter. He closed the book and slipped it into his pocket. His whole body burned with a fury that could not be quelled.

If they didn’t reach him in time…

“If he’s not okay when we get there, it’ll be on your head,” he hissed out between his teeth. Neither Noctis or Gladio said anything in response to that, thought they both knew exactly who he was talking to.

 

* * *

 

Prompto hissed and gasped as he brought the hot knife back down on the back of his wrist, burning the skin where his mark was. No matter how hot he got knife, and how much his skin burned up, the barcode remained perfect, the mark unwavering. Once he felt the knife lose its heat again he pulled it back and placed it down.

He was outside of the HQ, standing next to the railing at the very edge of the base. The sun was beginning to go down, and he knew it would be time soon to do what needed to be done. Tears continued to roll down his face as he took a drag of the cigarette. He hadn’t smoked since he was 15, but the burn was strangely comforting, he exhaled the smoke with a sniffle.

He hated that it had to come down to this. He thought he could overcoming being a reject MT. That he could love Ignis, and protect Noctis, but he was wrong. He was dangerous and evil, and he had to put himself down before it was too late.

He thought at first about pulling his gun from the armiger, but he was scared that once he had it in his hands he would lose control again and shot someone else. No that was out of the question. That and he didn’t want the others to know, so he couldn’t use any of their weapons either. He didn’t want to taint them either, a whole other issue. He didn’t have access to magic, so he couldn’t burn, freeze, or electrocute himself. He had no rope or cord, and he didn’t want to use medicine that could be used to help someone else who needed it more. So that left him with his knife.

Prompto finished the cigarette, his fourth one out of the pack, and put it out using the back of wrist, smushing it down on the barcode. He knew it wouldn’t hurt the mark, but he wanted whoever who found his body to know exactly how he felt.

The sun would go down soon. He needed to do it now.

He chocked out a sob as he undid his left wrist band, letting it fall to the ground with where his other one was. Placed the cheap knife over the base of his wrist, in the middle, and pushed down, drawing blood. Fuck, it hurt more to do it on his arm. With a shuddering breath and trembling hand, he pushed down more, and began to drag it slowly up his arm.

“Prompto!” he heard someone call, and it nearly made his heart stop. No, that must have been his imagination. He continued to drag the knife up, the incision now almost two inches long, his blood spurting out and dripping onto the ground. “Prompto!” the voice called again, now joined by more.

No, it couldn’t be…

He turned around and saw Ignis, Noctis, and Gladio running to him. He accidentally pushed the knife deeper, and yelped in pain, accidentally dropping it. Prompto sunk to the ground in humiliation.

No, this can’t be happening.

Ignis reached him first, dropping the ground next to him and grabbing his bleeding wrist.

“Darling no,” Ignis whimpered, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket to place against the wound.

“Is he- oh shit!” Noctis gasped while Gladio just stared dumbfounded.

“Gladio, get the first aid kit, Noctis, go buy some potions, quickly!” Ignis ordered. The two nodded and turned away without question. He adjusted himself to sit behind Prompto, spooning him. With his left hand he kept pressure onto Prompto’s left wrist while holding him against himself with his right arm. He kissed down the side of Prompto’s face and rocked gently. “Prompto, Prompto, Prompto, sweet Prompto, stay with me, okay?” he whispered urgently to him.

“You can’t be here,” Prompto whimpered. “I’m dangerous, what if I shoot you again.”

“You’d never hurt me on purpose, you know that darling,” Ignis denied. “Its okay. I’m okay, you don’t need to worry.”

“But I hurt you!” Prompto sobbed loudly. “Its because… I’m an MT… Remember? I couldn’t aim correctly, it must…” he cried. “It must be coding or something. You can’t trust me anymore.”

“No honey, no,” Ignis soothed. “You were confused, literally. You were under the same status affect as Noctis. I should’ve known better before going into that fight, this wasn’t your fault.”

“Really?” Prompto asked tearfully. Before Ignis could answer Noctis and Gladio showed up back up.

“About time,” Ignis scoffed. Gladio flinched in response. Noctis reached out and grabbed Prompto’s right hand, handing him a mega potion.

“No!” Prompto whined. “No, don’t waste that on me.”

“Shut up and take it Prom,” Noctis growled, forcing it into Prompto’s hand. He squeezed his hand with both of his, shattering the bottle and allowing the magic to take affect on him. It swirled around his body before resting on his wrists, which began to glow as the healing magic did its work. “Fuck, Prompto, what were you thinking?”

“That if I did this I couldn’t hurt you again,” Prompto cried softly. “Look at my wrist… that barcode, you know what that is, right?” Noctis glanced over it.

“I don’t give a shit what it is, I don’t care, all that matters is that you’re okay.”

“But I-“

“It wasn’t your fault!” Gladio cried out, his own eyes welling up with tears. “I’m sorry Blondie, I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I was wrong. They told me it was a status affect. I didn’t know. It wasn’t your fault, I’m so, so sorry.”

“Really, so its not because…” Prompto hesitated. “Its not because I’m an MT?”

“Of course not,” Ignis soothed. “You’re not one of those dreaded creatures, no matter where you came from.”

“Why would he…” Gladio started. “Never mind, not important. No, you’re not an MT, okay? You didn’t betray us. It was just an accident, okay? It could’ve happened to any of us.”

“Yeah,” Noctis agreed. “I got hit by it too. I know how you must have felt. We’re all okay though, and now we know better for the future, okay?”

“Okay,” Prompto nodded. His wrists stopped glowing and Ignis pulled back the bloody handkerchief, the wound healed.

“Can you stand?” Ignis asked. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, so might be woozy.” Prompto nodded slowly and began to stand up, letting Ignis help to get him on his feet. “I’m going to take him to the caravan, come around in about thirty minutes with some food? I need to speak with him alone first.”

“Got it,” Noctis nodded. Gladio turned and left with him. Ignis had half a mind to make sure he got something with vegetables but decided to let it go for now.

“Are you mad at me?” Prompto asked softly, his tears finally drying up.

“No, of course not,” Ignis sighed. “I’m mad at Gladio, and at the situation, but never you.” The two walked over to the caravan, paid the rental fee and went inside. Ignis sat Prompto down on the bed and went into the small kitchen to wet down a rag. He came back and sat next to him and began to clean the blood off his wrists. “I wish you wouldn’t hurt yourself so easily,” he thought aloud. “You always blame yourself for everything, even though you shouldn’t.”

“I know,” Prompto sighed. “But this time it was for a good cause!”

“How is killing yourself for a good cause?” Ignis snapped. “There is no good reason for-“

“I was doing it for Noct!” Prompto yelled angrily. “I _shot_ you Ignis, that wasn’t normal! How was I supposed to know it wasn’t my fault, that Noctis wouldn’t be next? All I knew was that I was dangerous, and I needed to be stopped.” He breathed out. “I love you Iggy, and I know you love me, but our duty is to Noctis above all else, and if I was a threat, then-“

“I love you too,” Ignis cut him off. “And… as much as it pains me, I understand. So how about we make an agreement, I promise to let you know if you’re a threat, okay? We’re in this together, I won’t let you suffer alone.”

“Would you… Do you think you could kill me, if it came to that?” Prompto asked. “Could you do it?”

“I don’t know,” Ignis answered softly. “But if I had to, I would try, okay? If that’s what you want.”

“Thank you, Iggy.” He turned and hugged him, burying his face into the crook of his neck. “Thank you for finding me. I didn’t want to die, I was just so scared…”

“I know you didn’t darling,” Ignis soothed, hugging him back. “You had me scared too, as soon as Gladio told me what happened, what he did to you… I was afraid something like this would happen.”

“You know me too well, huh?” Prompto laughed. “I’m glad for that. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“You’re okay now, that’s all the matters,” Ignis responded. He pulled back from the hug to look Prompto in the face. He tilted his head up and leaned forward to kiss him, and doing so softly, yet with some force, as though he was trying to drink in his very presence, so that deep down to his very soul he would know that Prompto is alive and with him. Prompto moaned and kissed back, moving his mouth against his just as urgently.

I’m here and I love you, they said wordlessly to each other.

Things weren’t okay, and they both knew it. The damage done by today would be lasting, and it wouldn’t be easy to recovery from, but they would both work to get him past it. They broke apart from the kiss and snuggled close, falling asleep as they waited for Noctis and Gladio to arrive with the food. Everything would be okay, but for now, they just needed to rest.  


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation! I've been working on this since the same day I posted the original one shot. Thank you so much to everyone that left comments! It really means a lot, and it inspired me to write this second chapter. Comments mean so much to me, its literally what inspires me to continue, to know that it's worth it to write and post. It should also be noted that I added this to my series, if only because I reference some events that happen in another fanfic, but it is not required to read those to get what happens here. 
> 
> Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter 2!

Gladio and Noctis walked away in silence, heading into Kenny’s together, settling into a booth in the back corner away from everyone else. Gladio slid into the booth first, and Noctis slid in across from him. Gladio held himself back from making a comment on it.

“How could you do that Prompto?” Noctis asked brokenly, his arms folded up against his chest. “I thought we were all friends, I thought you had liked him…”

“I do like him!” Gladio defended. “But what was I supposed to think? He shot Ignis. Clear as day, standing still, gun focused like his life depended on it. That and you were already had hit your head. We were two people down and in monster territory. Of all the times to fuck up-“

“He didn’t do it on purpose,” Noctis grumbled.

“I know that now!” Gladio sighed. “And I get it, okay? I know I fucked up. I didn’t think he’d… you know?”

“Why not?” Noctis scoffed. “You gave him an eating disorder.” Gladio sucked in a breath. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“Maybe,” Gladio agreed. “But that doesn’t make it less true. My face still hurts when I think about that day.”

“I bet,” Noctis forced a grin. “Ignis was pissed!” The smile faded quickly. “But seriously. Prompto’s worked hard to be here.”

“I know he has,” Gladio said, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms too. “But I’m your shield. I’ve been at this for a lot longer than either of you. I know he’s trained, but he’s the least trained out of any crownsguard. I like him, I do, but you have to admit that it does mean that out of all of us, he’s the weak link.”

“I can’t believe this,” Noctis turned away. “I’m so disappointed in you. We almost lost Prompto because of this.”

“You think I wanted that to happen?” Gladio argued. “I didn’t think he’d leave the camp. I didn’t know he would try to hurt himself over this. I’ll own up to what I did. I said some cruel things, but I didn’t want him to die!”

“I know!” Noctis all but yelled, slamming his fists on the table. “I’m just glad we found him in time. But this can’t happen again, okay? Its just us four now, and I-“ he chocked up. “I _can’t_ lose any of you. Not after everything else.”

“Hey now,” Gladio darted a hand out and rested it on one of Noctis’. “It’ll be okay. We can fix this. We’ll be okay, and we’ll keep moving. Okay?”

“Okay,” Noctis nodded. “Let’s get that food to go.” They got up from the table and went to the counter, ordering four burgers (one plain) and an extra-large fry to go. As they walked back to the caravan, Noctis couldn’t help but slip his hand into Gladio’s. “I’m still mad at you, but I love you, okay?”

“I love you too, Princess,” Gladio grinned. At least he still had one thing going for him.

When they got back into the caravan, Ignis and Prompto were curled up together sleeping. Prompto nestled tightly against Ignis who had an arm draped over him.

“Should we wake them?” Noctis asked softly. “They can just reheat their food later, right?”

“No, they need to wake up and eat,” Gladio disagreed. “They’ve both lost a lot of blood and need food to replenish it.” Noctis nodded silent and sat on the bed next to them.

“Hey, you need to wake up,” Noctis started, shaking Ignis by the shoulder. “ We brought the food. Come on, you too Prompto.”

“Mmmh…” Prompto stirred. “I already ate,” he dismissed.

“Was that before or after we found you?” Noctis asked, continuing to shake Ignis until he woke up too. Prompto mumbled something into Ignis’ chest, snuggling closer to him. Ignis groaned in response and cracked an eye open.

“Hmm, Noctis?” he groaned. He blinked a couple times and began to sit up. “Come on, Prompto you need to eat.”

“I already ate,” He sleepily whined. “I want sleep.”

“You can’t,” Noctis groaned. “You need to eat, you lost too much blood. Please Prom?”

“Oh yeah…” Prompto moaned as he opened his eyes too and rolled away from Ignis. “Burger me.”

“Atta boy,” Gladio finally joined in, fishing a burger out of the bag and handing it over to Prompto.

“Thanks,” Prompto said simply, unwrapping it and biting in. After slowly chewing his first bite, his eyes widened, and he began to shovel the burger into his mouth quickly.

“Toss me one too Gladio,” Ignis demanded, get a grin out of Gladio who tossed it through the air to him. Ignis caught it with both hands and began to quickly devour his as well.

“Hey, give me mine too,” Noctis whined, shoving Gladio playfully.

“Of course,” Gladio grinned, handing it over. “Just don’t let Ignis see it.”

“Don’t let me see what?” Ignis asked with his mouth full, quirking an eyebrow.

“Nothing!” Noctis laughed. Quickly eating his as well before Ignis could see the lack of vegetables. Gladio pulled his out last and removed the fries from the bags as well, handing over one of them to Prompto once he finished his burger.

They ate in silence for the next few moments, all too focused on their meal to say anything. Eventually, the wrappers were discarded, and they were all left staring at each other.

“So…” Prompto started. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, you’re not in trouble,” Noctis denied. “Gladio kind of is, but we’ll sort that out.”

“Yeah, I fucked up, not you, okay?” Gladio nodded. “You know I’m sorry, right? I said some horrible things to you, and you didn’t deserve it.”

“I know you are,” Prompto agreed. “But… I can’t stop thinking about it. Do you really think I’m ‘useless’? Have I been that bad this entire time?”

“ _What_ did you call him?” Ignis started up, his anger quickly boiling up again, he began to get up from the bed, but Prompto turned and pushed him back down.

“Iggy, no,” Prompto begged. “Let him speak, please?”

“Fine,” Ignis groaned, returning back to his position, but continuing to glare ate Gladio.

“I don’t think you’re useless, Blondie,” Gladio explained. “I do think that you are the least experienced. I will admit that I was against you coming at first, but you have pulled your own weight in ways that I hadn’t expected. Regardless of how I feel, I shouldn’t have told you that stuff, not the way that I did.”

“Its okay,” Prompto smiled. “I forgive you.”

“Really?” Ignis asked.

“No shit, really?” Gladio asked too. “Its okay to be mad at me, I’m still mad at me.”

“I don’t want to be mad at you,” Prompto said urgently. “I don’t like it when we’re mad at each other. Its too upsetting. I just want us to get along.”

“Good ol’ Prompto,” Noctis smiled. He reached over and patted him on the shoulder a couple of times before leaning back. “That leads us to our second order of business. We need to talk about what happened.”

“What do you mean?” Prompto asked. “You mean when I-? I won’t do it again!”

“How do we know that?” Gladio asked. “We need you to talk to us, about what is going on through your head. Last time I said the wrong thing to you, you started barfing up your meals. I can’t go though that again, none of us can.”

“I agree with him,” Ignis spoke up. “Prompto and I spoke a bit earlier, but perhaps it is best we did address this with everyone.” He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Prompto’s shoulders, leaning up against his back. “Can you do that for us darling?”

“Yeah, I can,” Prompto replied. He took a deep breath in. “I don’t want to die, I’ll start with that. I’ve done a lot of things to myself, but I’ve never tried to kill myself before. I only did it because I thought I had to now.”

“Explain,” Noctis requested. “You mentioned being an MT? Why would you say that?”

“Because I am one,” Prompto explained. “Or at least I was supposed to be. Remember, I’m a foster kid, right? Well I always had this stupid barcode for as long as I could remember, and after I became friends with you, you must have mentioned my name to Cor or something, because he showed up at my house and told me everything. Basically, he found me in an empire lab, where they were making clones and stuff to turn into MTs, and I was one of the clones. I was the only a toddler, so he took me back to Lucis, and I’ve been here ever since.”

“So how human are you?” Gladio asked suspiciously. “How do we know-“

“Gladiolus!” Ignis hissed. “How dare you-“

“Guys!” Prompto yelled. “Its okay, Iggy. I’ve got this.” He refocused and looked back at Gladio. “As far as I know, I’m completely organic, but even then, I’m still worried, and I get that.”

“If I thought he was a threat would he be here?” Ignis quipped.

“I know he’s here because you and Noctis wanted him here,” Gladio started. “Wait, did you know?”

“Of course I knew!” Ignis scoffed as if it was obvious. “He told me two years ago, and I’ve kept it secret, as one does.”

“Guys!” Noctis grumbled. “We’re getting off track.”

“Is me being here a problem? Because I can leave,” Prompto frowned. “If you think-“

“No, don’t go,” Gladio sighed. “You’re one of us, okay? I’m just being an ass.”

“He loves me, he can’t help it,” Noctis teased. “But seriously Prom, we just want to know if you’re okay. We don’t want this to happen again, you’re too important to us, okay?”

“I won’t I swear!” Prompto insisted. “This was a one-time thing, okay? Iggy and I already talked through it, I’m okay, really.”

“We did talk it over,” Ignis agreed. “But I’m still worried too. We’ll just have to keep a close eye on you for a few days, okay?”

“Really?” Prompto asked, disappointedly. “Its not that bad, really. I swear I’m fine now.”

“You tried to kill yourself!” Noctis cried out, exasperated. “It is that bad! That’s literally the worst it can get.”

“I know, I know,” Prompto moaned. He pulled his legs up close to him, trying to make himself smaller. “I just don’t want to dwell on it. Its embarrassing.”

“Well that’s one way of putting it,” Ignis snorted. “But you understand where we are coming from, right?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I just want to move past this, like it never happened, you know? Its not fun for me to think about either.”

“None of us like this,” Gladio interjected. “But its just the four of us now, and we need to make sure we have each other’s back, in the battlefield, and out, okay?”

“Okay,” Prompto nodded. “Are we done now? Can we move on?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty beat,” Noctis agreed. “We should call it a night.”

“I agree; however, I would like to shower first, I for one feel filthy given the day we’ve had,” Ignis nodded, unwrapping himself from Prompto and getting off the bed. “Shall you join me?” he asked Prompto, who blushed.

“Aww, jeeze, not in front of the kids,” He teased, standing up as well. He kissed Ignis on the cheek and headed into the bathroom.

“Barf,” Noctis commented. “I’ll shower in the morning, I’m sleeping now.”

“Yeah, I’m going to do the same,” Gladio agreed, peeling off his shirt and pants and arranging his bunk.

“Sleep tight, we’ll see you in the morning,” Ignis responded before turning and entering the bathroom as well. Noctis let out a breath and turned to look at Gladio. He pushed him down onto the bottom bunk and crawled to sit on his lap.

“Do you think everything is going to be okay?” He asked seriously. “Are you okay with this? Can you still trust him? I don’t want a repeat incident. If you’re not okay, I need to know now.”

“I’m fine, really,” Gladio sighed. “Is this even a conversation? Prompto is going is stay with us no matter what. You may be my priority as shield, but he is my friend too, even if I don’t always act like it.”

“Good,” Noctis smiled, leaning over to kiss him. “Just wanted to be sure.”

 

* * *

 

In the shower Prompto scrubbed Ignis’ back diligently, wiping away the crusted blood left over from prior wound. It still made him sick to his stomach to think about, though he was still glad that he hadn’t hit anywhere worse. He knew it wasn’t his fault, in a sense, but even then, he should have known better than to shoot his gun when he couldn’t see clearly.

“I’m sorry,” Prompto spoke aloud. “About what happened.”

“You don’t need to be,” Ignis replied turning to look over his shoulder. “It was the status effect.”

“I know that but,” Prompto bit his lip. “Wasn’t it stupid of me fire my gun? I couldn’t see clearly, yet I shot out anyways. I shouldn’t have done anything. Regardless of status effect, isn’t this still my fault?”

“Are you so certain you were thinking clearly?” Ignis asked. “What happened right before you took the shot?” He turned around and took the soapy rag from Prompto, rinsing it out and setting it aside as he picked up a fresh one and lathered it up.

“I remember someone calling Noctis’ name, I guess that was after he fell?” Prompto guessed. He turned around once the wash cloth was ready and let Ignis clean his back. “And then I saw something move quickly to Noctis. I thought it was one of the wasps, so I fired. Looking back now though, it was probably just you backflipping in the air to get to him.”

“You did what you needed to do,” Ignis replied simply. “We all made mistakes today. I should have done more research into the Killer Wasps instead of assuming they would be like the Killer Bees. That was my mistake. Gladio shouldn’t have yelled at you, and you shouldn’t have assumed things about yourself.”

“And Noctis for once did nothing wrong,” Prompto laughed.

“Amazingly,” Ignis snort-laughed in returned. Once he finished cleaning his back. He set the rag aside and picked up the shampoo bottle, squirting a small amount onto his palm. He lathered up and began to apply it gently into Prompto’s hair, massaging his scalp with his figure tips. “Regardless, what happened with me doesn’t matter as much as what happened to you. You can fix a physical wound with a potion easily, but the mind…”

“How many times do I have to say that I don’t want to die so that you’ll get it?” Prompto whined. “I know it was a mistake now.”

“But it was the first conclusion you jumped to, wasn’t it?” Ignis chided. “Even if there was a Magitek influence on your biology, we could try to find a way to cure it. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for us.”

“Is that not right thing to do?” Prompto asked thoughtfully. “History is full of people that heroically sacrificed themselves for the greater good. It must be okay sometimes?”

“Schools really need to stop pushing that rhetoric,” Ignis scoffed. “You don’t need to kill yourself to be a hero, I would strongly prefer if you didn’t.”

“That’s because you’re biased,” Prompto teased, ribbing Ignis with his elbow.

“Very much so,” Ignis smiled. He turned Prompto, around and swapped places with him. “Rinse your hair out now.”

“Got it!” Prompto stepped under the water flow and let the shampoo flow out of his hair. Ignis watched him carefully, the cogs in his mind turning.

“Prompto, do you often think about dying?” he asked, trying to keep his voice even.

“Yeah, obviously!” Prompto laughed. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“Perhaps, but the way you spoke earlier…” Ignis frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“What do you mean?” Prompto asked, his voice hitching uncomfortably.

“I did read the letter you left, the one in my journal,” Ignis mentioned. “You didn’t seem very confident in your place in our group in that letter. Everything flowed together too well.”

“Iggy…” Prompto whined. As soon as his hair was soap free he quickly left the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around himself. Ignis stepped under the shower head, running a hand through his hair to make sure it was soap free as well before quickly turning off the water and stepping out as well.

“How long have you been feeling like this?” Ignis asked. “This isn’t new, I know it isn’t. Talk to me Prompto, I only wish to help.”

“Don’t you get sick of it?” Prompto asked, his breaths picking up in speed. “Don’t you get tired of having to deal with my problems? Doesn’t it annoy you to constantly have to worry about if I’m okay or not? You’re my boyfriend, not my therapist, you shouldn’t have to do this.”

“Of course I ‘shouldn’t have to’, the point is that I want to,” Ignis huffed, frustrated. “You’re my friend, my partner, and an important member of Noctis’ crownsguard. Whether you like it or not, your mental health will always be important to me.”

“Iggy,” Prompto whined softly. “What do you want me to say?” He crossed his arms, and leaned into the corner of the bathroom, his eyes focused on the floor.

“I just want to know the truth,” Ignis explained. “How do you really feel?”

“I don’t _want_ to die,” Prompto insisted, his voice soft. He slowly sank down to the floor and drew his legs up to his chest. “But I do feel like maybe I should. I just… I guess after everything I still can’t stop hating myself, huh?” He looked up at Ignis, who was still standing, watching him. He gave a small nod, urging him to continue. “I just… I don’t know… I’ve hated myself for so long, I don’t know if I can actually feel any other way. It’s like, I know that you love me, or at least I think I know I do, but I still think you’re stupid for it. It feels like you’re wasting your time on me, and I’m constantly waiting for you to realize it too.”

“Oh Prompto,” he whined softly. He walked over to him and sat down next to him on the floor.

“You sure you want to do that?” Prompto joked lightly. “This floor is probably filthy.”

“We could take another shower, but the hot water is probably out,” Ignis snorted back. Prompto didn’t say anything back. He reached out his hand blindly, taking Prompto’s into his once he found him. “I appreciate you sharing your feeling, I know it couldn’t have been easy.”

“Thanks,” Prompto shrugged. “Can we not make a big deal out of this. There are more important things to worry about.”

“There is-“

“No!” Prompto snapped! “There are other things more important right now, way more important, and I get it. I’m not going to do anything stupid again, I over reacted, I get that now.”

“You literally jumped to the conclusion that you needed to kill yourself!” Ignis hissed. “No matter what, that isn’t the way we do things, not like that.”

“Like you wouldn’t sacrifice yourself for him,” Prompto sneered.

“You know I would, just like I know you would too, as would Gladio. This is our life, and we chose it proudly,” Ignis defended. “But there is a difference between sacrifice and dying needlessly in vain. Much less, you should know by now not to listen to Gladio whenever he gets heated.”

“He’s not exactly the brains of the operation,” Prompto laughed. “That goes to you.”

“More or less,” Ignis agreed. “But to get to the point, I just want you to know that we are here for you, and that you don’t have to face this alone. Nothing about what happened was okay, but I want us to heal and move on.”

“I will,” Prompto nodded. “I mean, I’ll try to. But, its not easy… you know? I’m probably never going to be okay with openly sharing my feelings, that’s just the way I am. But if you’re watching out for me, maybe it’ll be okay, at least someday.”

“We’ve got a lot on our plate, but we will manage,” Ignis said definitively. He let go of Prompto’s hand and stood up. “We should probably get to bed. Shall we return to our bunk?”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” Prompto agreed. Ignis held out his hand, and when Prompto took it, he pulled him. “I’m personally pretty beat.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Ignis teased.

 

* * *

 

“Do you think they know we’re awake?” Noctis whispered, curled up next to Gladio on one of the bunks. Gladio let out a heavy sigh.

“Probably not,” Gladio huffed. “If they did they probably wouldn’t be talking so loud.”

“Aww, did they hurt your feelings?” Noctis teased. Gladio tensed, his voice wasn’t as genuine as it normally was.

“Nah, nothing I’m not used to,” Gladio smirked. “What about your feelings?”

“What should I be upset about?” Noctis huffed. “My best friends are totally willing to die for me at the drop of a hat. That’s totally normal, perfectly fine. What do I have to be upset about?” He curled up further into Gladio, pressing his face into his side.

“None of this is easy for any of us,” Gladio eased. “But we knew that. There is so much more at stake than the four of us.”

“I know,” Noctis grumbled, his voice muffled by Gladio’s chest. “I just wish you weren’t so okay with it. Get mad, make a scene, you know? I hate how accepting you all are.”

“Getting mad isn’t going to change anything,” Gladio quipped. “And we all accepted it long ago.”

“I wish I could change it,” Noctis mumbled. “I have all this stupid power, but it doesn’t mean anything if I can’t protect the people most important to me.”

“It’ll be okay,” Gladio eased. He reached over and placed his hand under Noctis’ chin, forcing his face up. He shifted and placed a kiss on his forehead. “We’ll make it through this, okay?”

“Okay,” Noctis nodded.

A light clicked off, and they whipped their heads in the direction of the bathroom, in the dark of the caravan they could see the handle begin to turn. Noctis quickly kissed Gladio on the mouth, and then flopped on to the bed, shutting his eyes. Gladio bit back a laugh and did the same.

Prompto and Ignis silently navigated their way to their own bunk, muttering something under their breaths as they coordinated getting into their sleep clothes and the bed they wanted to share. It was almost as if everything was normal, or at least as normal as it could be.

Just the way Gladio liked it. He breathed out for the last time, and finally let sleep take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People don't just decide to kill themselves out of nowhere. While the comments did inspire me to continue, I'm glad I wrote this part, just to let the consequences really sink in. Gladio totally fucked up, and a large part of this was accepting it as a team, while digging deeper into how to go on after something so horrible happens. 
> 
> I wish everyone had a Ignis in their life. I used to think that I did, but when I recently met up with my Ex that dumped me almost a year ago, he accidentally implied that my struggle with mental illness ("Negativity" as he called it) was the contributing factor to the break. Support is so important in relationships, and if you can't handle it, get out as soon as possible, that's all I will say.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was definitely a vent fic, I don't really have anyone to share my issues with, so I guess that you guys get to share in the fun then. Ignis is defs wish fullfillment boyfriend, whoops!
> 
> Comment if you liked it, or don't. I just like the validation.


End file.
